Expanded-metal manufacture.



N. E. CLARK. EXPANDED METAL MANUFAQTUEH. APPLICATION FILED APR. 11, 90s.

, 979,130. Patented Dec.20,1910.

Fig: i.

WITNESSES I INVENTOR Nor/A's Elmore Wax-k. W I 64; a M.

ATTORNF;

-' I enough to permit bending I ford and State f omen Noaars nmroanicnaax, f or cgn nracrniniif.

- nxrannnn-mn'ran A U CTURE. v

To all whom it may concern: I 4 I Be it known that I, -Nonn1s ELMOBE CLARK, citizen of the United States, resident of Plainville, in the county of particularlysuitable for concrete reinforce-.

ment and lathing, cheaply and uniformly.

Another object is to produce a; fabric which while 'sufiiciently rigid is also flexible have sought to avoid havinglth e' cut'edges catch in expanding. I have desired to produce a fabric having longitudinal tension members united by, cross strands producing a nearly square mesh with the strands; on

edge.

-Th e-most important features of this new method are first, the slitting or lancingof a :strip .in staggerfid arrangement but inclined to the direction of feed, so as to produce longitudinal tension members or bars united by nall extensible bodies; second, flattening the slitted stockso as to slightly open the. slits and separate the rough cut edges and third applyingflongitudinal tension .to the tension members as well as'lateraltension, so as to separate the tension members laterally and move some 'of themllongitudi- Figure 1. shows. the ar i 'angementofslittmg. .Fig. 2. shows a' fragment after flatten- 'ing' enlarged so as to" exaggerate the opening continuous 4, and 5 connected by ,as-6, 7, 8 and of the slits. 3. shows a I grooved or corrugated;

4 iece' of the materral .expande or stretche Fig. e. is a g.= 5. is-a similar I I tension member beinginclined/ Fig; 6. is sectional view showing" a view showing a tension niember round cross section." 3' r I The stock. is preferably longitudinally ble cutters so as to leave tension members} such as 1, 2,13,

andislitted by extensible areas such I 9.. Each'of, these areas is made up of a plurality of parallel strips such as 10 and 11 connected together at a plurality of points such .as .12 and and Hart- 3 I I of Connecticut, have invent ed certain new and useful Improvements in.- Expanded-Metal Manufacture, of which the;

uniformly.

a fragmentary tension member-- is a similar hen the strands '14, 15,1 .e'tc. atri relatively opposite .not carried to sue .mesh fully.

' shown in'Figs.

II I Specification ofLettet s I ate 'Q-q .-atented Dec. 20, 1910f" a pu atnaanda ru 11'; 1906. Serial 110426.557.

the connections throu hout the area being staggered relativel yltoa dire'ction-at right angles to the' slits slight I In order to avoid. waste theslitting of alternate areas such as 6 and may bex'reversely inclined as shown. .The slitting sometimes produces burs onlthe'edges of the strands which tend to interfere with expansion.

This difliculty is overcome by flattenin the stock, prefe r.-

ably" by rolling, after itting. This sepa rates the edges and also removes any un.

evenness -.0r' buckling of the strands andj-i. renders .the subsequent expansion moreuni-"R form. The flattening 'mayg'be', done in the samemachine with the slitting,'in a separate].

operation, or in-the-same machine which is .5

to expand the material. -}1

After slittingland'flattening as: described;

. suitable mechamSIni' KI-he longitudinal-memn.

bers 1, 2,3, -and .5are drawn'apartso as the. material is. ,s t retched or expanded by into' thet -zigzagf-form this bending the stripittlurnhloigdgeifiiihg e t 'c e'ss o 's oIc width .is greater-than During t v members such as 2 and 4. tend to move'lo'ngi tudinally relativeto'the other. membersl, 3

it is not-practical to and 5. The resistanceto. such. movementis however so great that e lateral expansion the alternate"*;-'--

carr the expansion tovsuch .an'extenti as to I ht. an les to the tension members." have the mesh can be op alternate members 1, .3 and 5 in a direction ened out nearly reetanguound -t'atao lar by applying longitudinal tensionjtothe-g to tension applied to members-2 and!!! either during the lateral "expansion or subsequent thereto. "Such lon 'tudinal tension is advantageous for as sistlng the lateral: expansion even when "it is n' extent as to open the I The,tension members of the fabric. as

tension members'may; grooved or corrufiited-as shown .in section'. at 18 in Fig '6.

. 3 aiidi are flat and the fabdo is flexibleso that it may be readily bent,

' d at it-is never- I tension members" aterial may be-made according to my 1m-' 1 and] then expanded.

What I claim is:

1. The method of forming reticulated metal. fabric which consists in slitting a sheet so that it is composed of a plurality of extensible sections and tension members,

each section having a plurality of parallel.

strips connecting two tension members and inclined relative thereto and connected to each other at a plurality of points, the strips of one section being inclined relative to the strips of the adjacent section, and then drawing apart the tension members so as to bend tile strips into zig-zag form and open the s its. 1

2. The method of forming an expanded metal fabric which includes slitting the stock in staggered arrangement inclined relative to the edges and'leaving longitudinal tension members, flattening the-slitted area. so as to open the slits slightly and then drawing apart the tension members andopening the slits to form the meshes. y

The method of forming an expanded metal fabric which includes slitting the stock so as to produce longitudinal. members united by an extensible body composed of narrow strips and then drawing apart the longitudlnal members and subjecting alternate members to relatively opposite longitudinal tension to bend the stripsand form the meshes.

4. The method of forming an expanded metal fabric which includes, slitting stock in staggered arrangement inclined relative to the direction of the edges of the stock, rolling the slitted portions flat and then expanding the slitted-portions and allow ing the strands to turn edgewise. I

- 5. The method of formmgan expanded metal fabric which includes slitting stock so that it is composed of longitudinal tension members umted by a laterall extensible body, flattening said bodya r slitwould be slitted .and rolled between the ribs said tension members apart, and subjecting one member to longitudinal tension in one direction and subjecting the adjacent mem-- her to longitudinal tension in' the opposite direction.

7. The method .0; forming reticulatedmetal fabric which consists in slitting a sheet so that it is composed of a plurality of extensible sections and tension members,

' each section having aplurality of parallel strips connecting two tensionmembers and inclined relative theretoand connected to each other at a plurality of points, the strips of one section inclined relative to the strips of the adjacent section, and then drawing apart the tension members so as 'to bend the strips into zig-zag form on'edge and open the slitswhile maintaining the tension members parallel'to the'plane of the fabric.

- 8.-The method of forming reticulated metal fabric which consists in slitting a sheet so that it is composed of a plurality of extensible sections and tension members, each section -ha ving a pluralityofparallel strips connecting two tension members and inclined relative thereto and connected to each other at a plurality ofpoints, the strips of one section being inclined relative to the strips of the adjacent section, and then drawing apart the tension' members'so as to bendthe strips into zig-zag form and open the slits, the bonds connecting adjacent stripsbeing inclined relative to the length of the tension members. 

